Archives for February 2021

Tokyo, Feb 13: A strong earthquake hit off the coast of northeastern Japan late Saturday, shaking Fukushima, Miyagi and other areas, but there was no threat of a tsunami, officials said.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said there were no irregularities at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which experienced meltdowns following a massive quake and tsunami 10 years ago.

There were no immediate reports of irregularities from other nuclear plants in the area, such as Onagawa or Fukushima Dai-ni, government spokesperson Katsunobu Kato told reporters.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake had a magnitude of 7.3, raising it from a preliminary magnitude of 7.1.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that some 860,000 homes were without power as a result of the quake, but electricity was gradually being restored, according to Kato.

Kato said there was no danger of a tsunami from the quake. He said that some trains in northeastern Japan had stopped running, and that other damage was still being checked.

Video from public broadcaster NHK TV showed some pieces of a building wall had broken off and fallen to the ground, and pieces of glass were scattered at a store. Items fell off shelves because of the shaking, NHK said.

NHK aerial footage showed a portion of a highway blocked by a landslide in Soma, a city in Fukushima prefecture.

The extent of damage from the landslide was not immediately clear, Kato said.

He said there were several reports of minor injuries from the quake, such as a man getting hit by a falling object.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was centered about 60 kilometers (37 miles) beneath the ocean.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga headed into his office immediately after reports of the quake, and a crisis center was set up there.

The shaking was felt in Tokyo, to the southwest.

The same northeastern area was slammed by a quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in March 2011.

Experts warned of aftershocks over the next several days, including possibly larger quakes.

He will lay foundation for the extension, renovation and modernisation of the Grand Anicut Canal System (Rs 2,640 crore) and also for the Discovery Campus of II T Madras (Rs 1,000 crore).

CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate three works, completed at a cost of Rs 4,486.40 crore and will lay foundation for two more projects to be executed at a total cost of Rs .3,640 crore.

The completed works to be inaugurated are: Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I extension completed at a cost of Rs 3,770 crore, fourth railway line between Chennai Beach and Attipattu (Rs 293.40 crore), electrification of single line section in Villupuram – Cuddalore – Mayiladuthurai – Thanjavur and Mayiladuthurai-Thiruvarur (Rs 423 crore).

He will lay foundation for the extension, renovation and modernisation of the Grand Anicut Canal System (Rs 2,640 crore) and also for the Discovery Campus of II T Madras (Rs 1,000 crore). Though the Prime Minister is visiting Tamil Nadu amidst speculations about finalisation of the AIADMK-led alliance, the BJP leaders said his visit is official in nature and not political.

P Sudhakar Reddy, co-incharge of BJP affairs in Tamil Nadu, at Thiruvotriyur told reporters that there are less chances for alliance-related talks during the Prime Minister’s visit on Sunday. “Once the election notification is issued, talks about alliance will begin,” he added. BJP in-charge for Tamil Nadu, CT Ravi too said the same.

Sources said Bangaur Adigalar is likely to call on the PM at Nehru Indoor Stadium where the inaugural and foundation laying function is held. Amidst the tight schedule of Modi, 15 minutes have been reserved for informal meetings. Adigalar and others are likely to meet him. CM Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam are also expected to meet him there.

Under the agreement, Singh said both sides will cease their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated and verified manner in these areas

NEW DELHI: India and China have reached an agreement on disengagement of troops from the north and south banks of the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Rajya Sabha today.

Under the agreement, Singh said both sides will cease their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated and verified manner in these areas.

The defence minister assured the House that India has not conceded anything while entering into the disengagement process, adding there are “some outstanding issues” with regard to deployment and patrolling at some other points along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

“I am happy to inform the House today that as a result of our well thought out approach and sustained talks with the Chinese side, we have now been able to reach an agreement on disengagement in the North and South Bank of the Pangong Lake.

“It has also been agreed to convene the next meeting of the senior commanders within 48 hours after the complete disengagement in the Pangong Lake area so as to address and resolve all other remaining issues,” he said.

Singh said the agreement reached with the Chinese side for disengagement in the Pangong lake area envisages that both sides will cease their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated and verified manner.

“The Chinese side will keep its troop presence in the North Bank area to east of Finger 8. Reciprocally, the Indian troops will be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3,” he said.

“A similar action would be taken in the South Bank area by both sides. These are mutual and reciprocal steps and any structures that had been built by both sides since April 2020 in both North and South Bank area will be removed,” Singh said.

Indian and Chinese militaries were locked in a bitter standoff in eastern Ladakh for over nine months.

BENGALURU: Karnataka government removes restrictions placed over holding certain pooja and melas in temples due to COVID-19. Starting from this month, temple organisers can hold Jaathre (mela) and other pooja services with all precautionary measures.

According to the Circular issued by the State endowment commissioner, there was a demand from devotees to hold Utsav/Mela at various temples. February, being one of the auspicious months, every year Jaathres are held across the State.

Circular said temple organisers following all the safety guidelines issued by Union government, State government and DCs can hold these Utsav and Poojas. With this, temples can hold Rathotsava (Chariot pulling), Pavithrotsava, Anna Dasoha (free meals), Vishesha pooje (Special pooja) and other services will be resumed like before.
 
Starting from March 2020, as per the guidelines, due to increase in COVID-19 cases, there were restrictions on public entering temple premises, thus restrictions was imposed on nithya pooje (regular pooja), melas, cultural programmes and even restricted to distribute prasada, theertha and free meals. They even have restricted guests and lodges near temples to close.

However, in September, partially it was allowed to open, where devotees were allowed to enter temples maintaining social distancing and other measures were imposed. However, restrictions were placed on providing prasada and free meals to devotees.

BENGALURU: Ahead of the state budget to be presented in the first week of March, ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) workers’ union, which is affiliated to the All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), submitted a list of demands to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday.

The demands include an increase in honorarium to Rs 12,000. Currently, they earn Rs 4,000 from the state government and variable incentive-based pay from the central government, for completing specific tasks under national health programmes. However, owing to technical issues on the online portal even their completed tasks do not get updated and their incentives never reach them. Therefore, their demands also include fixing the technical glitches in the portal. 

The union also requested the central government to clear the pending incentive-based pay and honorarium for the month of July. They said that the Rs 10,000 Covid risk incentive announced for other healthcare workers such as D-group staff was never extended to them for performing their corona duty.The state government had earlier promised a risk incentive of Rs 3,000 for ASHA workers on corona duty, but that did not reach all of them. They demanded that the funds for those be released too.

NEW DELHI:  The net worth of 77 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) had been completely eroded by their accumulated losses, shows the latest CAG report. It said there were 189 government companies and corporations with accumulated losses of Rs 1,40,307.55 crore as on March 31, 2019. 

Air India’s net worth was (–) Rs 24893 crore as on March 31, 2019. The audit report tabled in Parliament said 247 government companies and corporations earned a profit of Rs 1,77,932 crore during 2018-19 of which, 73 per cent (Rs 1,29,887 crore) was contributed by 63 government companies and corporations in three sectors such as petroleum and lignite and power. Return on Equity in these 247 CPSEs was 18.58 per cent in Hundred government companies and corporations paid a dividend of Rs 36,709 crore to the Centre during 2018-19, the report said.

“100 Government Companies and Corporations declared a dividend of Rs 71,857 crore during the year 2018-19 as compared to 19.03 per cent in 225 CPSEs in 2017-18. Thirteen government companies under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas contributed Rs 29,272 crore representing 40.74 per cent of the total dividend declared by all Government Companies and Corporations.”

The report highlighted that non-compliance with the directive of the government on the declaration of dividend by 36 CPSEs resulted in a shortfall of Rs 8,011.33 crore in the payment for 2018-19. There were 157 CPSEs that incurred losses during that fiscal. The losses incurred by these firms during the year 2018-19 amounted to Rs 37,310 crore compared to Rs 41,180 crore in 2017-18.

Omar Abdullah’s remark came after several Twitter users and government departments announced joining the ‘desi’ platform.

SRINAGAR: Twitter would be a nicer place if the shift of its users to Indian micro-blogging site ‘Koo’ gathers pace, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday, in a backhanded compliment to the 10-month-old app.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister’s remarks came after several Twitter users and government departments announced joining the ‘desi’ platform.